A Catholic Priest, a Baptist Preacher and a Rabbi all served
as Chaplains to the students of Northern Michigan University at Marquette in
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
They would get together two or three times a week for coffee
and to talk shop. One day,
someone made the comment that preaching to people isn't really all that hard, a real challenge would be to preach to
a bear.
One thing led to another, and they decided to do an
experiment. They would
all go out into the woods, find a bear, preach to it, and
attempt to convert
it to their religion.
Seven days later, they all came together to discuss their
experiences.
Father Flannery, who had his arm in a sling, was on
crutches, and had
various bandages on his body and limbs, went first.
'Well,' he said, 'I went into the woods to find me a bear.
And when I found
him, I began to read to him from the Catechism.
Well, that bear wanted nothing to do with me and began to
slap me around. So
I quickly grabbed my holy water, sprinkled him and, Holy
Mary Mother of God,
he became as gentle as a lamb. The Bishop is coming out next
week to give
him first communion and confirmation.'
Reverend Billy Bob the Baptist spoke next. He was in a
wheelchair, had one
arm and both legs in casts, and had an IV drip.
In his best fire-and-brimstone oratory, he exclaimed, 'WELL,
brothers, you
KNOW that we Baptists don't sprinkle! I went out and I FOUND
me a bear. And
then I began to read to my bear from God's HOLY WORD! But
that bear wanted
nothing to do with me.
So I took HOLD of him and we began to wrestle. We wrestled
down one hill, UP
another and DOWN another until we came to a creek. So I
quickly DUNKED him
and BAPTIZED his hairy soul. And just like you said, he
became as gentle as
a lamb. We spent the rest of the day praising Jesus.
Hallelujah!
The Priest and the Reverend both looked down at the Rabbi,
who was lying in
a hospital bed. He was in a body cast and traction with IVs
and monitors
running in and out of him. He was in really bad shape.
The Rabbi looked up and said: "Looking back on it,
circumcision may not have
been the best way to start”!!!!!.
